Extreme heat from the Mount Vesuvius eruption in Italy was so immense it turned one victim's brain into glass, a study has suggested. The volcano erupted in 79 AD, killing thousands and destroying Roman settlements near modern-day Naples. The town of Herculaneum was buried by volcanic matter, entombing some of its residents.

A team of researchers has been studying the remains of one victim, unearthed at the town in the 1960s. A study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Thursday, said fragments of a glassy, black material were extracted from the victim's skull. Researchers behind the study believe the black material is the vitrified remains of the man's brain.